


i love these roads where the houses don't change (and i like you)

by unprecedence



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, College Parties, Drinking, Fluff, Fluffy Ending, Gen, M/M, Mark Lee (NCT)-centric, Not Beta'd, Pining, Romance, basically mark's feelings about full sun, clingy donghyuck, im a shitty writer im so sorry, implied nomin, ish, markhyuck, minor!LuWoo, narration heavy because how to dialogue, slightly aged up characters, teenage boys just trying to find their way together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-06-17 03:21:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15452259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unprecedence/pseuds/unprecedence
Summary: Mark's sanity was going haywire. Donghyuck wasn't helping.(or alternatively: mark takes care of a clingy, drunk donghyuck)





	i love these roads where the houses don't change (and i like you)

**Author's Note:**

> soooo this is my first fic after 12345 years because of a writing slump. yes the title is from 400 lux by lorde uwu. 
> 
> I'm gonna be real with you chief, I am a shitty and rusty writer.
> 
> Please give me constructive criticism! this isn't my best work but I hope you enjoy this if you ever read this.

* * *

When Mark was a little boy, he had little to no worries of making friends whenever their family moves to another place.  At such a young age, he had already developed his own sense of independence despite being a shy kid. Because of always moving, he had grown accustomed to the stares of other people. So the first time Mark had caught someone staring at him in this new neighborhood, he was unfazed. 

 

As he was helping his parents carry their things just in front of their house, a curly mop of hair was peeking from the bushes. Mark stopped in his tracks and turned his attention on that thing which is obviously now looking at him straight in the eyes, full of curiosity. Just as he was about to approach the bush, the boy holding a toy car in his hands ran away towards their house.

 _Well, certainly a weird encounter_ , Mark thought and went back to carrying his things.

* * *

 

 

After a number of shy meetings with Donghyuck, the curly haired boy’s name, orchestrated by none other than their mothers themselves wherein they just have tea and talk and leave their sons to play by themselves, of course they had no choice but to be friends.

Mark, despite being a shy kid himself, had to be the first one to talk to Donghyuck always because he was the older of the two. It was very hard for Donghyuck to come out of his shell. His mother had always told Mark that Donghyuck was a very shy child especially around new faces and Mark was new with those things because in Canada he was so used to be the one who needed to be cajoled out of his own shell. This was going to be hard work.

 

 _“ I’ll leave you two boys to play, okay? Be nice to each other sweeties_.” With that, Donghyuck’s mother goes back to sipping tea with Mark’s mom by the living room.

Mark turns to the obviously panicking Donghyuck. After a moment he speaks.

 _“So, you like Pokemon?”_ He asks.

Donghyuck’s eyes instantly light up and turn to him. He pulls out his DS from his hoodie and lets out a small “ _yeah… wanna battle?_ ” with a grin.

 _That was a shot in the dark but that was easy_ , Mark breathes in relief.

 

Despite having an awkward first encounter, he managed to befriend the younger boy and their friendship grew steadily.

* * *

 

As the years passed, the shy, curly haired boy was now a social butterfly that Mark has to keep an eye on at all times because their mothers had made a pact that their sons would look out after each other. _Weird right?_ Like some mothers do actually assign humans to another fellow human just because they instantly became the best of friends and their children should also be the same.

 

Mark was the first one to enter university and the first few months were a difficult part in his life because he was so used to having Donghyuck by his side. As the time passed, Donghyuck not only came out of his shell but also bloomed into one social butterfly. He has no trouble making conversation with new people whereas Mark… Mark never really came out of his shell that much. He was undeniably an introvert, _“different from antisocial!”_ he always reminds his friends. Despite being slightly introverted, he still managed to make friends. Him being friends with a loud chinese exchange student though, that was another mystery.

 

So, he survived his freshman year with the loud Huang Lucas ( _the “L” in Lucas stands for “loud_ ”), whose real name is Huang Xuxi but he doesn’t want to use that name because he thought people will think he’s soft ( _It’s useless because people see him as a soft, cute, adorable puppy. They just don’t tell him)._

 

Mark’s friendship with other people grew when he was in his first year of college. Because of Lucas, he managed to make friends with other people like Jungwoo ( _Lucas’ bf_ ), Taeyong ( _a straight-A senior who is visibly not straight_ ), Ten ( _a Thai exchange student_ ), and Johnny ( _the boy pining for the Thai exchange student_ ).

 

With being an introvert, it was undeniable that he had to call for some time off during parties or just decline other people’s invitations of going out. He wasn’t trying to be rude and thankfully his friends do understand because they don’t treat him differently whenever they see him after their hangout, even going so far as to buy him treats or trinkets from the new place they went to. Mark was thankful for having understanding people as his friends no matter how loud they were together. He wasn’t a wallflower, but he genuinely enjoyed a view of his friends laughing whenever he goes out with them. It was different without Donghyuck, but it was still fun.

* * *

 

 

So why was he here, amidst people making out on a couch, clutching his red solo cup filled with beer?

 

The answer was _Donghyuck_. He was looking after the said boy trying to kiss everyone in this college party. 

 

Mark wasn’t really the type to drink. Yes, he did go to a freshman party in their campus when he just got to college, but he really didn’t get himself shitfaced drunk. There’s pleasure in being sober and Mark declares that the fact that he can walk himself home without swaying like a moron and vomiting on the sidewalk.

 

“You’re really going out to a party in that?” Donghyuck looks at him up and down, distaste evident as he eyes Mark’s baby blue polo.

“Well, I’m there to babysit you so I might as well play the part,” Mark smiles. He really does sound like an old man.

“You’re a sophomore but you act like you’ve already retired from working an office job somewhere in the city after seeing all your children graduate and have families.”

“shhh, what are you so awfully specific for? I don’t do these things okay? The only party I’ve ever went to is that one party when I was a freshman and I didn’t even last the whole night.”

“You really are an old man,” Donghyuck sneers.

“And what are you? A wild freshman drinking his first vodka?” Mark bites back a laugh. Donghyuck was a lightweight and they both knew it.

Donghyuck stayed quiet and settled for sending cold eyes in Mark’s direction. Mark just laughed because he knew he was right and apparently Donghyuck thinks being a lightweight is embarrassing.

“Just… get yourself out of that grandpa attire,” Donghyuck says, not wanting to be reminded of the first time he got drunk and cried for 30 minutes because humans can’t fly.

 

Mark follows and Donghyuck gives him a hoodie, a plaid shirt, and his beanie. With this look, Mark looks like some college softboi and his round glasses just completes the look. He doesn’t mind. Nobody pays attention to him anyway. Donghyuck was another matter himself. He draws people in. He’s like some warm energy people just walk towards because they want his presence. It’s not that Mark finds that bad, but when that happens he has no choice but to stand aside and let people talk to his bestfriend. He wasn’t some popular guy like Donghyuck and that was understandable.

 

“You done?” Donghyuck asks.

“Yes,” Mark replies simply and looks at his bestfriend wearing a slight tinge of eyeshadow, slightly curly hair now straight, a grey hoodie topped with a leather jacket.

 

Donghyuck grabs his hand and they speed out of their dorms. Mark mentally prepares himself for the onset of sensory overload later. Having many people in such a tight space bothers him a little bit. But this was babysitting duty and his mom would whoop his ass if ever something happens to Donghyuck so he doesn’t really have a choice.

A cab comes and they both go inside. Donghyuck was buzzing with excitement. Mark steels himself for the longest night of his life.

* * *

 

 

Of course Mark has already expected that the moment they arrive at the house’s doorstep, people would already be welcoming Donghyuck. He had many friends back when they were in high school and it couldn’t be avoided that people from their city would also attend this university. It was 3 hours away from their city and this certain university was the nearest they could go to without being suffocated by locals. Everybody comes here for a reason aside from academics: not wanting to be stuck in the same place, but also wanting to be near your parents because, hey, college gets lonely sometimes without seeing your parents waiting for you in the living room when you get home.

 

Donghyuck spared him a glance while he was situated in the couch, worry evident in his eyes because he also knows that Mark didn’t fare well in parties. He was as worried as Mark was. But Mark shoots him a warm smile while lifting his cup and he goes on.

 

He was the opposite of Mark. During their childhood, they were both shy children. Then by some miracle when high school finally came, Donghyuck started to blossom into a social butterfly. But that didn’t make him leave Mark. The reason why he decided to come out of his shell was because of Mark. His middle school mind decided that they couldn’t be both shy forever. It’s not like he’s growing tired of the friendship he has with Mark, it’s because he also wants Mark to gain some friends because he seemed to be slightly disinterested ( _or maybe afraid_ ) of making the first move. So Donghyuck does it for him. He introduced the shy spectacled boy to his friends and thank god he lets them enter his little guarded heart. They also had a share of roadtrips with Donghyuck’s friends and Mark thoroughly enjoyed being with them, but he just needs time for himself to recharge all the emotional energy he spent. Thankfully, Donghyuck’s friends can also understand. He was doing this for Mark _(and also a little bit for himself, but mostly for Mark_ ), but it’s not like he’s ever going to tell anyone about that fact.

 

Two hours in and Donghyuck’s starting to get really loud. Mark shoots a look in his direction and he was singing Love on Top at the top of his lungs and that really looked so funny. Drunk Donghyuck, blushy and all practically draped next to obviously sober and annoyed Renjun, imitating Beyonce; that was a sight to behold.

Jaemin and Jeno were laughing their asses off because Donghyuck keeps on imitating various vines he recently saw on twtitter and Renjun was having enough of that. He doesn’t want to be some babysitter, so he practically peels himself from Donghyuck’s vice grip around his body and storms to Mark’s direction.

 

“You having fun there?” Renjun asks.

“Yeah,” Mark replies despite literally sitting next to Jungwoo and Lucas sucking each other’s faces off.

“They look gross,” the chinese boy comments while discreetly jabbing a finger to Lucas and Jungwoo’s direction.

“Agreed,” Mark affirms.

He looks around and almost everyone is making out, save for Donghyuck and his friend group.

“Hey, ever feel like you just want to drink ten shots of tequila because of the amount of people making out while some Daniel Caesar plays but you can’t because of babysitting duty?”

“No, thank god.”

 

Renjun and Mark clink their plastic cups and take a sip. Renjun liked Mark. Not in the romantic way, but the “ _I totally relate to you in a spiritual level_ ” way whenever in social situations.

 

“Mark, I hate to say this but it looks like you need to take Donghyuck home.”

Mark whips his head to where Renjun was gesturing and he almost chokes on his drink.

 “Jeno I swear to fucking God if you don’t help me! I’ll burn your stupid Red Velvet albums!” Jaemin was near tears. He can’t breathe due to Donghyuck’s weight crushing him.

 

The child he was supposed to babysit was sitting on Jaemin’s lap, whining why he won’t accept his kiss. Meanwhile, Jaemin was visibly annoyed and screaming at Jeno as the other boy was just clutching his stomach, lying on the floor because Jaemin’s annoyed drunk face was so funny.

 Unluckily, Jeno was a laughing drunk and the sight of Jaemin annoyed makes him choke on air.

 

Mark sighs, “Well, that’s our cue to go.”

 

Renjun smiles at him pitifully as he makes his way towards clingy and obviously drunk Donghyuck.

 

Mark pats Donghyuck’s shoulder, “Hey, let’s go.”

“Please get him off of me,” Jaemin pleads, face contorted in pain.

Mark laughs a little and lift’s Donghyuck so Jaemin can finally breathe. He mutters a “ _thank fuck_ ” under his breath.

 

“Donghyuck, let’s go home?” Mark was attempting to sober up Donghyuck as they sat on the couch together.

Donghyuck looks at Mark, eyes hazy then says, “M-mwark?”

“Yeah. You’re a mess and your friends are begging me to get you home,” he can’t help but ruffle the younger one’s hair. It’s like those times in the past where Donghyuck depended on him heavily.

“mmm-okay mwarkus,” Donghyuck lifts his arms, wanting Mark to carry him out.

“You’re such a big baby.”

Mark slings Donghyuck’s arm on his shoulder and attempts to make him walk in his jelly-like state.

“Your big baby,” Donghyuck giggles. Mark pretends his heart didn’t flutter for a little bit.

* * *

 

 

The problem with drunk Donghyuck, Mark thinks, is his complete change of demeanour. While sober Donghyuck was all bark and bite, drunken Donghyuck was really just a squish. He liked to babied. Obviously, he liked to smooch anyone within his vicinity and Jaemin was the person of interest earlier.

It’s not like Mark hadn’t had his fair share of The Drunk Donghyuck Experience, he is very well aware and has lived through all three times Donghyuck had insisted with “ _this one’s my last shot_ ” that didn’t seem to end.

Now they were in a cab with Donghyuck’s head nestled in the dip on Mark’s shoulder. He tries to ignore the soft puffs of air hitting his chest and how the younger had insisted to hold his hands because he didn’t want Mark to forget him in the cab when they finally reach their dorm.

 

 _He’s so stupid_ , Mark thinks. The blush creeping on his face says otherwise.

 

 “Hyuck, we’re here,” Mark shakes him awake gently. He tries not to stare at his bestfriend’s licking his lips for too long.

“o-okay, Mwark. Hold my hand while we go out,” Donghyuck does not waver with the last part and attempts to grip the cab’s handle but fails.

 

The driver looks at them holding hands and Mark stutters out a “h-he’s just drunk a-and I’m s-supposed to babysit him”. The older man notices the blush on Mark’s cheeks as he fidgets with the handle because Donghyuck had drunkenly decided to not move an inch and let Mark do all the work.

 

“It’s okay kid, all that matters is you got home safe.”

Mark hands the driver their fare and thanks him. The driver then waves at him before speeding out of the neighbourhood. He cranes his head to where the younger boy was.

Donghyuck was sitting on the sidewalk and pouting.

“Let’s go so we can clean you up?” Mark offers a hand to Donghyuck.

“No.”

“Hyuck it’s late and cold. You’ll get sick if we don’t go inside right now.”

“No.”

“Hyuck, please?”

He lets out a soft “ _hmph_ ” but looks at Mark and says, “Carry me.”

 

How can Mark say “no” when Donghyuck is out here being all cute? So he turns his back to the younger boy and motions for him to hop on. Donghyuck did that a little too eagerly and almost made Mark stumble forward.

Mark feels Donghyuck’s breaths hitting his nape and it tickles him so he accidentally lets out a giggle.

 

“w-whaT are you giggling about huh.” Donghyuck slurs.

“Hm. Nothing really, your breath just tickles.”

Donghyuck hums in approval.

 

When they were near the dorms, thankfully the guard was nowhere to be seen and Mark walked as quietly as possible. Thankfully, they reached their room after one flight of stairs. He had prepared for bringing a drunken Donghyuck home so he fished out they key out of his pocket and opened the door.

He makes a beeline to Donghyuck’s bed and puts him there. He was about to get some water and a towel for Donghyuck when he heard him stir.

 

“You’re leaving?” Donghyuck says quietly.

“No.” Mark says quietly. “Lie down. I’m just going to get you some water and towel so we can wipe you okay?”

Donghyuklets out a quiet " _okay_ ".

* * *

 

For Mark, he needs to calm his heart down for a bit. This always happens whenever he takes care of Donghyuck. His fondness wasn’t because Donghyuck miraculously loses his sarcastic self whenever he’s drunk; rather, it’s because of how Donghyuck is so vulnerable and soft. Usually Donghyuck can easily say he appreciates a person or how he’s thankful for his friends whenever he’s drunk compared to when he’s sober. His loose mouth had made people grow fonder of him, but for Mark it’s a different story.

He fills the glass with water and goes inside Donghyuck’s room.

 

“Hyuck?” Mark shakes Donghyuck awake gently.

“yyeaH?” Donghyuck’s eyes were still a little bit glazed over.

“Sit up and drink this.”

Donghyuck complies and sets the glass on his nightstand.

“Take off your jacket; I’m going to wipe you because you’re stinky.”

 

Mark goes to the bathroom and puts water on a small basin then he goes back to Donghyuck.

 

“Hey stinky, take off your shirt and wipe yourself with this.”

“mwark, you bitch assssssssssss,” Donghyuck says while taking off his shirt.

 

Thankfully, Mark was so used to taking care of Donghyuck that he can now hide his panic. His face gives him away though, blush creeping on his face and neck. Thankfully the room was dim save from Donghyuck’s whale nightlight that Mark had given him on his tenth birthday.

Donghyuck attempts to wring the towel but does not succeed. Mark lets out a small sigh and takes the towel from Donghyuck’s hands.

 

“How was the party?” Mark asks while wiping Donghyuck’s shoulder.

“Very nice,” Donghyuck mutters.

“Did you know you almost killed Jaemin?” Mark smiles fondly. He motions for Donghyuck to put his hands up and he wipes the younger boy’s torso.

“He was being mean!” The younger boy pouts and Mark smiles a little.

“Why was he mean?” Mark was now helping Donghyuck put on a fresh shirt.

“He wouldn’t want to kiss me!” He whines.

“Shh. It’s because he likes Jeno.” Mark looks inside Donghyuck’s drawer and pulls out a pyjama and sets it down Donghyuck’s bed.

“Take off your pants and wear this. I’ll go out for a bit and fix things.”

 

Donghyuck obliges and Mark exits the room with the basin and towel in hand. He puts that in the bathroom and takes a shower. His heart was going haywire because he just wants to tell Donghyuck how much he loves him. But it doesn’t help when every time Donghyuck’s drunk he confesses something cheesy and Mark can’t help but blush. But what’s irking him is, what if Donghyuck was just being the flirty drunk that he is? The younger boy doesn’t even tell him he likes him when sober! So how can he believe the things Donghyuck tells him when he’s drunk?

He feels the blush creeping up on him again and he shakes that away and goes out of the shower, grabbing the Mario towel that he keeps there just in case he forgets to bring one. He goes to his room and changes into sweatpants a loose shirt.

His hair had dried a little when he went in Donghyuck’s room to check up on him, he stood beside Donghyuck’s bed. He was about to leave when the younger boy stirred and grabbed his wrist.

 

“What took you so longggggggg?” Donghyuck whined.

“I took a shower. You need to sleep now. Your hangover’s gonna hurt in the morning.”

 

Mark feels the panic seeping into him again, the weight of Donghyuck’s grip seems to grow heavier by the passing second and he can feel his palms sweat.

 

“Stay here,” the smaller boy mutters while softly pulling Mark to his bed.

“w-what?” Mark sputters.

“Cuddle me maaaaarkkkk. It’s been so long since you’ve cuddled me.” Donghyuck begins to form his signature pouty face.

 

Donghyuck had a point. It had been long since Mark had cuddled him. The thing was once Mark had started to realize that his heart was beating a bit too erratically for someone who was just lying down, he began to decline Donghyuck’s requests of sleeping next to each other.

 _“Come on! It’ll be just like when we were kids!”_ Donghyuck would say.

Mark would get dejected inside because, no, it will not be like when they were kids because now he is well aware of the fact that he likes Donghyuck more than a childhood bestfriend. His brain was going haywire because he has not prepared himself for the fact that Donghyuck would want him to sleep next to him and oh, how his heart aches because he’s being unfair.

This was unfair to Donghyuck and himself because he has still not figured out how to reduce the crashing waves of his heart and all its contents to gently ebb and flow.  His brain was going haywire and Donghyuck’s persistent pulling wasn’t helping.

 

“Mark. Please,” Donghyuck mutters sleepily.

 _“oh fuck it,”_ Mark thinks. He throws all of the regrets he’s sure he’s going to have in the morning out of the window and settles next to Donghyuck.

“you better let me sleep.” Mark doesn’t face Donghyuck and settles for staring at Donghyuck’s study desk at the far end of the room.

“love you mark,” Donghyuck mutters softly then his breathing evens out.

 

There were those words again, the ones that Mark has always had a hard time processing. When he’s drunk, Donghyuck would always say at some point that he loves Mark. The fact that Mark had been pining over Donghyuck for so long is not helping. His biased brain can translate Donghyuck’s platonic “I love you” to a more romantic one and he wasn’t really coping with that fact well. So instead of saying “I love you too” and kissing his forehead, Mark settles for patting Donghyuck’s head and tucking him goodnight.

 

Mark was very far from getting some sleep and the boy curled up beside him makes sleeping all the more difficult. But how can he sleep so soundly when everything he’s ever wanted was just right there beside him, chest rising then falling, breaths soft and Mark has to fight the urge to caress his hair and tell him how much he means to him.

 

He thinks back to the days he had no care for things that much. Times were so much easier when he was young, no problems like how to turn down his heart’s beating whenever he sees Donghyuck smile. Mark was really in a deep problem and he was fighting his hardest to give Donghyuck’s words any meaning.

 

 _He was just drunk_ , he chants to himself.

 

Maybe if he ingrains it into his brain deeper it’s going to disappear and in the morning Donghyuck will return to teasing Mark instead of doing drunken declarations of his love. Mark was aware that once he lets Donghyuck know his feelings, everything was going to crash and burn. It’s not like friendships stay the same after letting someone know you want more than the platonic state you were both in.

 

Donghyuck’s presence sets Mark on fire; not in a lustful way, but the way you just turn into when you’re hyperaware of their presence and suddenly you also turn hyperaware of your _own_ presence.  He makes Mark’s heart reduce into a puddle of jelly and he just stutters over his words sometimes out of pure nervousness. Thankfully the younger boy doesn’t look into those instances that much.

 

Mark moves his body so now he’s staring at the ceiling; Donghyuck’s breathing serves as his white noise. The younger boy begins to shuffle between his sheets and hooks an arm across Mark’s chest. The older boy absolutely burns with embarrassment and he attempts to carefully remove Donghyuck’s arm but the younger one doesn’t budge and to add insult to injury, unconsciously hooks his leg above Mark’s own as if Mark was a pillow.

 

Mark sighs. His brain wouldn’t be going haywire at this time if only Donghyuck could just quit being some coward ( _a miniscule part of Mark likes to comfort himself with that every after drunken declaration_ _from_ _his best friend_ ) and finally say that he loves Mark while he’s sober. That’s the only thing that Donghyuck could do to calm the raging storms inside Mark’s poor, small heart.

 

Mark doesn’t want to keep falling in love whenever Donghyuck kisses his cheek or tells him how much he adores him or how much he _loves_ him but in the state of being drunk. It was unhealthy for someone who was just wishing for someone to be his but that does not seem likely to happen since he doesn’t even know if Donghyuck was just _messing_ with him in his flirty drunken state or if he was truly being serious.

 

 _Everything’s a little bit calmer now_ , Mark thinks.  

 

Finally, he starts to feel a little sleepy. It was nice like this. To Mark, sleeping with Donghyuck just brings a sense of calm into him and he can’t help but bathe in that warmth. He remembers why he and Donghyuck liked having sleepovers back then. It was because it was easier to fall asleep, starting softly, and finally completely drifting into a sense of calm.

 

Mark closes his eyes and hopes for the best in the morning.

* * *

 

 

Mark wakes up at four in the morning with Donghyuck still clinging onto him but this time, his head was placed on the crook of Mark’s shoulder. He groans because he definitely doesn’t want his heart to beat so erratically this early in the morning. So he ruffles Donghyuck’s hair using his nearly dead arm ( _not that he minded, Donghyuck needs more sleep to prepare himself for his hangover_ ) and places a featherlight kiss on Donghyuck’s forehead and mutters a silent “ _sleep tight Donghyuck, I love you_ ”. Mark goes back to sleep, wishfully thinking that this sense of contentment can stretch out for a little while longer.

 

* * *

 

Mark opens his eyes a little and sees the blinding sunlight filtering through Donghyuck’s window. When he settles his eyes however to the supposedly sleeping boy next to him, he almost had a heart attack which made him experience his full sobriety. Supposedly sleeping boy was not sleeping and was looking at him with those doe eyes and smiling.

 

“You scared me!” Mark exclaims, hand reaching to his chest in an attempt to calm down.

 

Donghyuck’s face is slightly flushed with pink, with his hair an absolute mess but he looks perfect and Mark has to stop his heart from beating out of his chest.

The younger boy just stares at him for a little while longer and laughs. There was that laugh, a gentle tinkling noise that Mark had grown to love. Then Mark’s chest begins to feel heavier and everything just crashes down: he was still very much in love with his very oblivious best friend.

 

“I’m… I’m going to make some toast.” Mark hurries to untangle the blankets constricted around his legs but Donghyuck just pulls him back into the bed forcefully.

“I love you, Mark.” Donghyuck still hasn’t let go of his grip in Mark’s wrist.

“w-what?” Mark had thought this was just some kind of sick morning prank and it makes his poor heart sink heavier into his chest.

“I said I really love you, Mark. I don’t really have the courage to say these things to you when I’m sober because I’m scared…” Donghyuck trails off, “but here I am now, shooting my shot. You can reject me if you want to.”

 

Mark needs someone to slap him real hard at this moment. Was this really true? Were they really just idiots just pining over each other? He can already feel the blood creeping to his face.

 

Donghyuck takes the silence as offending and obviously panics over the fact that Mark may not like him after all so he attempts to fill in the stillness with, “I was awake when… I was awake when you kissed my forehead. That really set my decision to confess to you _for real_ -not drunk.”

 

Mark’s mind was racing and if Donghyuck was aware that he had kissed the younger boy’s forehead, he would have also heard Mark saying “ _i love you"_ to him. He cannot grasp the right words to say so he just holds Donghyuck’s face in his hands and kisses his lips. It was soft and everything his poor pining heart had imagined. Donghyuck was indeed the softest boy he had ever seen so he caressed Donghyuck's cheeks and they both smiled.

 

It was Donghyuck’s turn to be speechless and he became a stuttering mess so Mark just pulled him into a tight hug and said, “let’s make breakfast?”

Donghyuck laughs his tinkling laugh that Mark absolutely loves and replies with “Yeah, let’s make toast.”

 

The younger boy just winds his arms around Mark finally.

They both look at each other with the newfound love in their eyes and they smile.

 

“We were so stupid,” Mark says as he waits for Donghyuck to stand up.

“I can’t believe we both liked each other after all,” the smaller boy states while he cards his fingers through the paler boy’s hands and grips it tightly.

“I love you, Donghyuck.” Mark finally said the words out and his heart just absolutely fills with joy.

“Well, I love you too Mark despite being an old sap.” Donghyuck laughs and kisses Mark’s cheeks before he can speak.

“We have a lot to talk about,” Mark says and Donghyuck lets out a hum of agreement.

“After breakfast?” Mark asks then plants a small kiss on Donghyuck’s forehead.

“After breakfast,” Donghyuck affirms while he buries his head on the crook of Mark’s neck and smiles.

 

**Author's Note:**

> wow u made it this far I—


End file.
